TIFTON — The Irwin County Indians rose to No. 4 in the Georgia Sports Writers Association rankings this week after their second straight upset of a higher-ranked opponent last Friday.

Ranked fifth, Irwin (3-1) dominated No. 4 Clinch in a 21-7 win to open Region 2-A play last Friday. Three weeks ago, eighth-ranked Irwin knocked off No. 2 Macon County, 36-28.

This Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Ocilla, the Indians have another challenge on their hands in Telfair County. Though only holding a record of 1-3, the Trojans strike fear in the hearts of every coach in the area.

“They are very athletic,” said Nobles. “We have our hands full.”

Telfair’s single win came in their opener, a 28-0 victory over Savannah. They have lost three straight games since then, but none were blowouts. Bacon County and Toombs County, both currently undefeated, defeated Telfair by a combined 13 points. Turner County also had difficulties in their 20-7 win over the Trojans.

Nobles said Telfair “played Turner about as tough as you can play Turner.”

The Turner game was 7-7 in the second half. Video highlights available on MaxPreps show Telfair kept Turner under control nearly every time Turner thought it had an open field.

Irwin will have to contend with quarterback Ian Blankenship and Larrion Hamilton, who plays both ways. Hamilton is a running back who had a long interception return against Savannah. Blankenship was an all-region first team pick in 2016 in football and was third in the state earlier this year as a 170-pound wrestler.

The Indians had a similar scoring progression against Clinch as Telfair did with Turner.

Irwin led only 7-0 at the half and extended it to 14-0 in the third. Clinch scored to cut the margin to 14-7, but Irwin drove down the field for a final touchdown with 7:47 remaining to put the game away.

“The key thing,” said Nobles, “was answering the call.”

Clinch scored on a 53-yard pass with 10:52 left in the fourth quarter. Aided by a 53-yard run by Steven Thomas, the Indians immediately went on a six-play 80-yard drive that culminated with a Will Stephens bootleg run for the final score.

“What a great game by Steven Thomas,” he said.

Thomas ran for 118 yards on 15 carries to lead the offense. His long run in the fourth quarter was even bigger because of an injury to the squad’s other main running back, D.J. Lundy.

After rushing for 76 yards, Lundy came up limping during a third quarter drive. Lundy is still limping, said Nobles, and may be a game-time decision against Telfair.

Fortunately for the Indians, there was Thomas, and Davion Pollard came in and did not miss a beat.

“Words cannot describe Davion Pollard,” said Nobles. “I’d change his name to Nobles if I could.”

Pollard extended the lead to 14-0 with a six-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He finished with 47 yards on 14 carries.

Nobles said his play calling was a bit more conservative this season. Stephens only attempted two passes, both of them completed.

The defense and special teams were also huge for Irwin, forcing five turnovers. Clinch’s first two pass attempts were caught by the Indians.

Besides being the host of a big football game Friday, Irwin has something special planned. A week after Hurricane Irma caused major damage to the area, Nobles said Irwin is admitting first responders to the game free of charge.